'Loaner' sculptures may join 'Limitless' at Civic Center

"Limitless" will finally have some company at the Civic Center plaza if the town council approves the "Art at the Center" project to temporarily install about a dozen loaned sculptures created by southwestern artists.

On Nov. 20 the town council viewed a candidate sculpture at a local business before convening a work-study session at the Civic Center to discuss the matter.

The town's Arts and Culture Commission bases its Art at the Center project on a similar successful project by the town of Grand Junction, Colorado, which displays sculptures along its downtown sidewalks. The sculptures are on a one-year loan from the artists, who benefit from the free public exposure. At the end of the year residents vote for a "people's choice" among the sculptures and the town of Grand Junction purchases the sculpture for permanent display. The rest of the sculptures come down and the town replaces them with new "loaners."

If the council approves of the project, Prescott Valley's Arts and Culture Commission will solicit 10 to 12 sculptures to remain on outdoor display from May 2004 to May 2005. Most of the sculptures will go to the Civic Center plaza, though three or four will go on display at the Town Center - the Harkins Theatre complex. The commission intends to add more sculptures each year and, as the downtown area becomes more developed, to eventually display sculptures all the way from the Civic Center to the Town Center.

TribPhoto/Art Merrill

The abstract sculpture 'Limitless,' which the town purchased in 1989, will finally have company next year if the town council approves a plan to display loaned artworks outdoors at the Civic Center and town center.